Q: So many problems with iTunes Match...

Yes, I digressed. Now, back to my real life.

Antmeeks,

You are wound a bit tight aren't you?  I asked if you worked for Apple and you started a nerd raging rant?!  At no point did any of my posts rise to anything that even resembled the word offensive, but you sir, certainly crossed the threshold repeatedly.  You should be ashamed of yourself.

For my part, I wish you well.

Me wound a bit tight?

Lol, that's funny coming from a guy that posted 10 times over the last 2 days on this subject, vehemently complaining like a schoolgirl and then challenging the first 3 people who dared to have a different opinion.

Goodbye.

richsadams wrote:

 

However making uninformed statements about what iTunes Match can and cannot do isn't helpful.

What specifically did I say about what iTunes can do that isn't correct?

iTunes Match streams instantly.  It instantly streams (only) to the Apple TV2.  It streams instantly to the iPhone or iPad.  It also temporarily stores a copy of the track on the iPhone or iPad so it can be played again with or without Wi-Fi/3G any time.

Yes, and other cloud services do playback while downloading as well.  But they also give the option of streaming without keeping the files as well.  Call me crazy, but I'd say having more user choice is a good thing.

The stored tracks are cached and removed if and when storage space is needed for newly played tracks or anything else.  That is a bonus that other services do not offer.

False, if playing music fills up an iOS device and you try to do something else that requires space (take video, download a new app), it will NOT free up that space but will give an error saying that space must be freed up by the user manually deleting files.  Have you actually tried that?  In comparison, other services limit caching for streaming to a fixed amount instead of filling the whole device.

Every time I add or subtract content in my iTunes library it's synced across all of my computers, my iPhone and my iPad automatically.  I don't have to upload anything, I don't have to wait I don't have to do anything.  Again, a feature that isn't matched by other services.

You have to upload any files that aren't matched, and in my experience adding music hasn't been instantaneous even when it is matched (maybe in some cases it's close to that).  And are you sure that other services aren't able to add content and sync it automatically?

iTunes Match doesn't try to do things other services don't offer, it does do things other services don't offer.

The main distinction for Match is the matching.  And it this point it fails to match many songs that are for sale in iTunes, ripped from CD at a decent bitrate - these aren't low bitrate pirate copies, they are what should be best case scenario for matching.  It fails to match some songs on an album but not others (in many cases all but one or two songs).  And when it matches to the wrong version of a song, there's no way to fix that (not an issue with other could services).  Plus the main selling point of matching songs is to save time yet over three weeks later it's still not done with my library - there's not much point to matching if it's going to take as long as uploading.

It works flawlessly for me

The key part of that statement is "for me".  Anything, regardless of how flawed it may be, will seem fine to the group of people who are lucky enough to not try and use the features that are broken.  I'm sure if a car was released that always broke down at 55 mph, there would be a guy somewhere who never drives over 35 insisting that it's fine.  Match has a number of flaws right now, that's a simple fact.  Those aren't people with "dirty" libraries or doing something wrong, there are things that simply don't work for anyone.  I can guarantee that they won't work for you, you simply haven't tried to do them.

I have better things to do than to correct other's misstatments and errors.  (Okay, one more...I have hit the storage limit on my iPhone and you do NOT have to manually delete cached files.)   Do some research and actually use the service and you'll have some credibility.

You are correct about at least one thing, that I said it works flawlesly for me.  I never said it was flawless or that it doesn't need some additional work.  I don't keep track of play counts or ratings.   Other services don't do that either, but there's no reason iTunes Match shouldn't.  I don't ask much of iTunes Match other than to add and subtract tracks with little or no action on my part, keep all of my devices synced and all of my iTunes library available at all times.  It does that for me perfectly. 

It would be extremely rare for anyone that's satisfied with iTunes Match or anything else to visit these forums to sing its praises...that's not what the forum is for.  It is for folks troubleshooting issues and wanting to find answers.  I and many others have posted both rants as well as resolutions.  If folks just want to come here and whine about how horrible things are that's their privelage I suppose but it adds nothing to the conversation and is not helpful in the least. 

No one is forcing anyone to use iTunes Match.  Don't like it?  Don't use it.  Simple. 

'Nuff said...moving on.

richsadams wrote:

 

I have hit the storage limit on my iPhone and you do NOT have to manually delete cached files.

If that's the case, you're the first user to report that.  To be clear, if you listen to music from the cloud until your device is completely full, exit the music app, then try and shoot video or download a decent sized app, it works and doesn't give an error that the device is full?  If that's the case I'm not sure why it's working differently for you than for everyone else using Match.

Mike Connelly wrote:

 

richsadams wrote:

 

I have hit the storage limit on my iPhone and you do NOT have to manually delete cached files.

 

If that's the case, you're the first user to report that.  To be clear, if you listen to music from the cloud until your device is completely full, exit the music app, then try and shoot video or download a decent sized app, it works and doesn't give an error that the device is full?  If that's the case I'm not sure why it's working differently for you than for everyone else using Match.

So you have no personal experience?  You're basing all of your "facts" on what someone else said?  Thought as much. 

My personal experience is limited by the fact that Match still isn't done syncing my library after three weeks of trying.  Once that's done I'll be able to test it with my iPad, hopefully it won't be too much longer.

Again, to be clear, if you listen to music from the cloud until your device is completely full, exit the music app, then try and shoot video or download a decent sized app, it works and doesn't give an error that the device is full? Have you actually tested it in this way or not?

Good for you and did you not read what I said?  Done hand-holding now.  Enjoy whatever you end up with.

You didn't answer my question.  Did you test that way or not?  The evasion sure makes it sound like you didn't.

It's a simple enough thing for anyone with an iOS device on Match to test out - when other apps need space, is music deleted to make it available or does it give an error?

I have two systems that repeatedly crash when I turn on iTunes Match (latest version 64-bit) running clean version of two different operating systems (windows 7 and the other windows Vista).  Despite your lunatic ranting above, I have a pristine library of less than 2k songs (all itunes purchases). 

At the point where I quit troubleshooting I had forwarded diagnostic information to Microsoft and based on the dump the problems were clearly iTunes related (you do know what a memory dump is right).

I have since reinstalled itunes fresh and am now able to at least get back to where I started (other than a large number of duplicates, and having to log in on the occasional song).  I did for giggles turned iMatch back on, and immediately began seeing problems.  Turned it off, cleaned up the mess, and for a third time reinstalled a clean version of iTunes and restored the library. 

I do not claim to be a great expert on all things Applie, but as someone who builds servers and installs new (large build) systems (like image capturing for check processing), I am more than a little familiar wih technical issues.  This product, depsite all the fanboism and personal attacks is simply bug infested, and any objective peek at the forum would indicate that this is true. 

It is completely possible that in a few weeks or months that Apple will have this all sorted out.  If it works for you, great!  I truly wish you well.  Personally, I just want my money back and I will use a different solution until iMatch is more stable.  It may not have all the whizzbang features, but it works, and at the end of the day, that is all I really care about.

Peace.

It works exactly as I said it did.  For crying out loud...get it and test it for yourself.  You have zero credibility and have become a troll.  Move on.  I am.

richsadams,

Dude, shut the **** up.  No one wants to hear your pseudo tech babble.  You have added zero to this thread other than animosity.

"Lunatic rantings"...really?  Nice. 

Sorry it didn't work for you...it didn't work for me initially either.  Anyone reading my posts would instantly see that I was not a happy camper and still am not happy because of all of the work it took to get everything organized, uploads, syncing, cover art, etc. working.  I posted a number of resolutions and used other's advice to get there though and there's no excuse for that.  Had I not had decades of IT experience I probably wouldn't have taken the time.  However in the end it does work for me. 

Okay, enough is enough - unsubscribing from all of the amateur "oh yeah, well..."childish nastiness and whining.  

Have fun!

You didn't give any info about how you tested it.  How low on space was the iPhone?  And what app were you running that needed the additional space?  Maybe you did test it and it did work for you, I'm honestly just trying to get more specifics about what works and what doesn't.